Slyly Tattling

"What should we do now, Madam?"

Li Momo had been Madam Jiang's dowry maid and had stayed by her side since Madam Jiang was a little girl.

They had grown up eating and living together. Though mistress and servant, their bond ran deeper than that of ordinary sisters.

While accompanying Madam Jiang, she had also heard Jiang Shuyue's thoughts. After discreetly probing her mistress, she discovered that Madam Jiang could hear them too.

Neither understood the mystery behind it, but without the young miss, they would surely have remained in the dark. All that awaited them would have been a ruined family and deaths that left not even their bones behind.

When Jiang Shuyue went to eavesdrop, Li Momo had quietly followed her, so she naturally knew of Jiang An's scheme.

Jiang Mother felt as though a hundred insects were gnawing away at her heart, the pain leaving her unable to breathe.

But however much her heart hurt, she had to protect her children.

"Send word to my eldest brother. Have him arrange for the best martial arts instructor. Once Chen brings it up, I'll arrange for him to learn martial arts."

Jiang Mother knew Jiang Chen's temperament well. Unless something had stopped him, he would certainly have charged over to fight Jiang An to the death.

With her skinny arms and legs, Jiang Shuyue certainly couldn't have held that little fatty back.

That left only one explanation.

Her son could hear Jiang Shuyue's thoughts too!

Jiang Mother did not think this was sorcery. It was a gift from heaven.

Heaven itself must have been unable to stand watching any longer and had given them a chance to change their fate.

"But as for the master, I don't know whether he'll agree."

Jiang Mother sneered. "He's a husband who married into our family. He doesn't get to refuse!"

Early the next morning, Zhou Yunshen went to court, while Jiang Shuyue ate at the minister's residence.

Having run herself into several fainting spells the day before, Old Madam Jiang was now bedridden.

The yard full of salted fish had made Jiang Liuli sick, and she was still vomiting.

She ordered the servants to throw everything out, but Madam Jiang said these were all tokens of her elder sister's affection.

Jiang Liuli couldn't very well reject them, so she could only have the servants secretly carry everything away.

But there were five cartloads of salted fish and cured meat, weighing over a hundred pounds. Would they be hauling it away until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse?

After Jiang Shuyue finished breakfast, Jiang Chen kept hovering around her, chattering away.

"Little sister, was the rouge I gave you any good? I specially asked someone to bring that top-quality stuff from Jiangnan. It's hard to find even in the capital."

"Oh, right, the Lin Family's second young miss is coming of age in three days, and she wants to invite us over. Are you going? I'll go with you!"

Jiang Shuyue: [The second Miss Lin? That name sounds so familiar.]

System: [She's your second brother's sweetheart. He and Lin Shuifu were originally in love, but after your second brother was raised into a good-for-nothing, the Lin Family refused to let them marry. Then your father went crying to them with a show of false sincerity, and the Lin Family married their daughter to Qin Wanru's nephew.]

Jiang Chen nearly shattered his teeth from clenching them.

Damn it, the nephew of a brothel woman dared to steal his woman!

Jiang Shuyue couldn't help snickering. [This big oaf looks so overbearing, yet he can't even hold on to a girl!]

System: [He's actually very easily embarrassed. When he's with Lin Shuangshuang, he either gets so nervous that he can't speak or gets so nervous that he starts babbling nonsense.]

[Once, the mood was just right, and Lin Shuangshuang thought he was about to confess his feelings. Instead, your brother said, "You look like a piglet!" He actually meant to praise her for being cute, but he thought of the roast suckling pig he'd eaten the day before. He thought it was both delicious and cute, just like her.]

[Who knew she'd immediately slap him when she heard that and refuse to speak to him for three days? Sigh!]

Jiang Shuyue froze for a moment, then erupted into earth-shaking laughter in her mind:

[Hahaha! Complimenting a girl by saying she looks like a piglet? What was he thinking? Hahaha!]

Jiang Chen helplessly pursed his lips.

He hadn't wanted to, either, but whenever he saw Lin Shuangshuang, his tongue turned clumsy.

Jiang Chen lowered his head. "Yue, just go with your brother, please. Shuangshuang hasn't spoken to me for seven days..."

Jiang Shuyue: [What would I go for? To gorge on your sugary romance? If there's some juicy gossip to feast on, though, I could have a bite.]

System: [There is! The Lin Family's gossip is especially juicy, and their household is full of fake-sweet schemers. You can stockpile green tea points there.]

Jiang Shuyue immediately clasped Jiang Chen's hand. "You'd better keep your word, Second Brother! If you back out again, I'll cry right in front of you."

Jiang Chen feared girls crying more than anything and hastily nodded. "Don't worry. A real man always keeps his word!"

Jiang Shuyue smiled faintly. Boys really were easy to wrap around her finger.

"Shuyue, what trouble are you causing now?"

Jiang Shuyue turned to see a handsome man dressed in white standing with his hands behind his back, with a sniffling Jiang Liuli beside him.

Jiang Wujie approached with a frown and rebuked her coldly. "You're her elder sister, yet you bullied her the moment you came home. You owe me an explanation."

Jiang Shuyue: [An explanation? Explain your granny's bloody hammer!]

Jiang Wujie frowned. "What did you say?"

Jiang Shuyue blinked. "I didn't say anything. Are you hearing things, Eldest Brother?"

Jiang Shuyue: [My eldest brother is handsome and clever, responsible and dependable. Too bad he's blind.]

Jiang Wujie watched Jiang Shuyue for a long moment. He hadn't seen her speak, yet he could clearly hear her voice.

What was going on?

Jiang Shuyue: [Let me guess. Jiang Liuli must have put on a hesitant, unspoken-grievance act in front of him, pointing the finger at me at every turn. That's why he's come looking for trouble! It's just crying, isn't it? I can do that too.]

Jiang Shuyue's eyes immediately reddened.

"You haven't come home in so long, Eldest Brother. You even missed my wedding. Why are you scolding me the moment we meet? Little Sister said you didn't like me. It seems she was right."

"I didn't!"

Jiang Liuli hurriedly denied it. "Sister, how can you make things up? I never said that!"

"But your actions did!"

"Every time Eldest Brother brought gifts home, you told me yours were valuable and mine were worthless. Whenever he took me to a banquet, you told me I was too embarrassing and would disgrace him. You even said that was what he thought, and that he only hadn't told me because he couldn't bring himself to say it."

"I thought I wasn't fit to be seen in public either, so I tried to stay out of Eldest Brother's way. But I haven't done anything this time, and he's still being so harsh. Little Sister must have been right. Eldest Brother really doesn't like me."

Jiang Wujie's heart tangled into a frantic knot.

He had never disliked Jiang Shuyue. Quite the opposite-he cared about her too much. He was only a little strict because he feared she would suffer at others' hands outside.

Besides, every time he sent Liuli to her, he had wanted to ask whether she needed or wanted anything. How could this have...

Jiang Wujie looked at Jiang Liuli in astonishment, unable to believe she would obey him to his face while defying him behind his back.

Jiang Liuli was panicking too.

She knew Jiang Wujie was the person Jiang Shuyue feared most, and Jiang Shuyue had always been inarticulate. How had she now...

Jiang Liuli awkwardly tried to explain. "That's not true. Eldest Brother, don't listen to Sister's nonsense! Sister, hurry and tell him you made all this up!"

Jiang Shuyue: [Look, System. This white lotus is still trying to force me to lie. What a brazen face she's got!]

System: [Host, taking down fake-sweet schemers earns you bonus points.]

Jiang Shuyue perked right up. [Damn, why didn't you say so earlier!]